


Exchange?!

by natsucchi29



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Body Swap, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-29 02:37:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6355510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natsucchi29/pseuds/natsucchi29
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>- inspired by imagine-your-fav-character's post: "Imagine your favorite character trading places with you for a day."<br/>- but instead of just trading places, I just went with personality swap<br/>- I’m so horrible at giving titles to my works, sorry</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> \- inspired by imagine-your-fav-character's post: "Imagine your favorite character trading places with you for a day."  
> \- but instead of just trading places, I just went with personality swap  
> \- I’m so horrible at giving titles to my works, sorry

Iwaizumi knows that Oikawa gets rather insecure of his own talents, and therefore, it has become a ritual of his to study his future opponents to prepare before match days using recorded videos of the team’s matches… how Oikawa gets these videos, Iwaizumi does not know, but this time, he’s certain Oikawa’s obsessing over how he will beat a certain kouhai.

“Good work today!” the younger players said as they left the clubroom.

Iwaizumi usually has no problem voicing his thoughts to Oikawa even when others are around, but since this concerns Oikawa’s performance, he thought he’d just talk to his friend privately.

“Oi, Oikawa! You need to stop overworking yourself!” Iwaizumi scolded his childhood friend. Lately, Oikawa’s been training harder and longer than anyone else. Yes, he has been like that, but he’s even surpassing his own hard training regimen.

“Iwa-chan, are you my mother?” Oikawa spat.

Pissed, Iwaizumi hits Oikawa very cleanly in the back of the other’s head with the volleyball in his hand. He has such a perfect aim now, having been with Oikawa since they were children.

Taking the hit, Oikawa rubs the sore spot in his head with his hand. “That hurts! Iwa-chan, you’re so rough!” he pouted.

“I’m serious, Shittykawa!” Iwaizumi was angry. He had always been concerned whenever Oikawa does things like these, but the other seems to take it as a joke every single time.

“Yes, yes, I know, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa said, as he finished packing his things and zipped his bag halfway through. He pretended to wipe his face with his lucky face towel because he was blushing. He has always taken Iwaizumi’s concerns seriously, but he still can’t help but blush whenever he hears it come out of his friend’s lips.

After rubbing his face, he looked up to see Iwaizumi staring at him. He froze, mind panicking and started making up “What ifs”. He knows how sharp his friend is. “Eh, Iwa-chan, will you stop staring, please?” he said. “It’s creeping me out.”

Iwaizumi seems to be studying Oikawa, by the weight of his stare. “You know what,” Iwaizumi began, “Can I come over to your place? I wanna watch the videos too.”

Oikawa’s mind ceased panicking, and becomes relieved, internally. He probably just wants to make sure. “Yeah, okay.”

—

The two stayed up until late, watching videos and ended up sleeping beside each other. This is really nothing strange to them, having been friends for over 10 years, and because Oikawa never bothered to buy an extra futon of Iwaizumi. As the sun’s rays penetrated the windows of Oikawa’s bedroom, it was followed by the ringing of Iwaizumi’s morning alarm, which awakens its owner.

“Nn? It’s morning, huh?” Iwaizumi did a little stretch to relieve his sore muscles from sleeping in a weird position. He placed his hand on his arm to do arm stretches when he noticed that his arm is a bit different. He went on stretching, though, for he thought nothing of it, and got up to make his way to the bathroom.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Oikawa wakes up with a start. “What? What’s wrong? Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi storms out of the bathroom, freaking out. “What the hell happened, and why do I have your body?”

Half-asleep Oikawa looks at Iwaizumi and says, “Wow, Iwa-chan! You look just like me!”

Iwaizumi picks up the nearest pillow, and throws it at Oikawa within 0.5 seconds. The pillow hits his childhood friend square in the face, and his head flails back dramatically. The freaked out Iwaizumi kneels down in front of his friend, and shakes him violently. “Wake up, you idiot! Our bodies got switched!!”

Iwaizumi then realizes that Oikawa wasn’t half-asleep anymore; he was actually frozen because the thought of his Iwa-chan having his body scared the living daylights out of him.

Iwaizumi attempts to bring his friend back to earth. “Oi~ Oikawa?” He then releases his hold on Oikawa’s arms, and the other falls flat on his back, unmoving.

Iwaizumi clicked his tongue. “You’re such a drama queen.”


	2. Oikawa as Iwaizumi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- inspired by imagine-your-fav-character's post: "Imagine your favorite character trading places with you for a day."  
> \- but instead of just trading places, I just went with personality swap  
> \- I’m so horrible at giving titles to my works, sorry

After we got dressed for school, Iwa-chan and I decided to talk about our current situation during breakfast. We somehow have to manage acting as each other, and even though we’ve known each other since we’re children, I doubt we’d be able to get through this day unscathed.

But seriously, out of all things, why is it that Iwa-chan and I switched bodies?! I mean, I never believed that this sort of hocus-pocus thing happens in real life? And how did this even happen? This can’t be happening!

“Oikawa, are you listening?” Iwa-chan asked, waving his hand in front of my face. His face was just right behind his waving hand, which was literally only a few inches from mine.

My face felt hot as I backed up far enough to gain back my personal space. “Sorry, what was it, Iwa-chan?” I replied.

Having understood my actions, Iwa-chan also backed up and sighed. “I said, we’re gonna have to go on like this starting today, so I hope you will act accordingly and not bust us out.”

I don’t really care about us getting found out, but…

“H-How long do you think we’ll be like this?” I asked, as I bite on my beloved milk bread.

“Hmm,” Iwa-chan took a bit of time to contemplate the real problem of our current situation. “We’d have to go home tonight, and maybe after tonight we—“

I bolted up from my seat. “No way, Iwa-chan!” I exclaimed. “Let’s just pretend to have another sleepover!”

Iwa-chan couldn’t hide the surprise in his features. “I guess that could work,” he concluded. “I’ll let my mom know then, but you seriously need to keep calm.”

I sighed in relief. There’s no way I’m letting Iwa-chan by himself at my place! He absolutely cannot find out!

—

It’s been so long since I’ve been mentally exhausted in just one day.

1.) Makki and Mattsun thought it was weird that I was eating milk bread during lunch. Iwa-chan insisted we switch lunches for our act to be convincing so I had to eat Iwa-chan’s favourite agedashi tofu instead (which doesn’t really fit my liking).  
2.) I was surprised when sensei personally called me (still in Iwa-chan’s body) to hit my own head with a volleyball when Iwa-chan (in my body) was getting mobbed by the girls from my fanclub, although I missed miserably. I can pretty much guess he thought it was weird that I had to ask what am I supposed to do.  
3.) We didn’t even realize that we wore our own jerseys until everyone started laughing and called us out on it.  
4.) It probably looked really weird when it was Iwa-chan (in my body) “mistakenly” wore the number 4 jersey, which of course, was a little short. My (who’s in Iwa-chan’s body) arms hardly fit through the armholes of the number 1 jersey… it almost ripped. I almost cursed the muscly, beefy arms that I loved…  
5.) Iwa-chan was so serious and cool the whole time I could have sworn I almost fell in love all over again.  
I couldn’t count how many times we’ve almost been found out because of our inability to act as each other, especially when my fanclub was screaming for Iwa-chan, and I said, “Oh, congratulations on finally knowing the feeling of having fans,” and Iwa-chan didn’t even hesitate one bit to shoot me with a volleyball in the head (which I don’t know if I should actually be impressed with his aim) and was about to attack me when he was caught by everyone’s stare at him. It probably looked super strange that the Oikawa body started attacking the Iwaizumi body.

I sighed in relief when everyone else has left the clubroom. Finally. Acting as Iwa-chan is more mentally exhausting than I’d ever imagined.

I was having my internal monologue that I hardly noticed that Iwa-chan is uncharacteristically silent. He’s sitting comfortably on the floor, slowly removing his volleyball shoes while staring at the floor way too hard, I swear he could have burrowed a hole. I tilted my head to the side to see his expression somewhat subtly, but he had one of those undistinguishable expressions on that up to this day, I still can’t read it.

“Iwa-chan? Something wrong?” I finally called out to him.

“No…” he said, slowly raising his head up to face me while looking rather serious. “I was just tired from acting as you. It’s really hard to be as troublesome as you are.”

“Well, it’s hard to be a serious, old man like you are, Iwa-chan!” I snapped.

Iwa-chan shot me a glare. “What did you say, Trashykawa?!”

As he was about to pick up the nearest volleyball to throw at me, his phone rang. Whew! Saved by the bell.

Iwa-chan picked up the phone with a “Hello?” and then followed by a series of half-grumbling, half-annoyed answers. Oh, he seemed surprised. He seemed to get more irritated as the conversation lasted. Who’s he talking to?

As soon as he hung up, I have this habit of asking who he was just on the phone with. “Who was it?”

Iwa-chan has been so used to this that he doesn’t even question why I ask anymore. “It’s mom. She said grandpa was taken to the hospital.”

I was shocked. “Hospital? What happened?”

Iwa-chan began scratching his head. “Eh, well, Mom said he slipped while he was cleaning. Actually, grandpa’s annoying and he always does stuff by himself. They think he broke his back or something… I’m not really sure.”

Upon hearing this, I immediately grabbed my bag and closed my locker shut with a loud bang. “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and pack your things!”

Iwa-chan looked at me with a puzzled face for some reason. If you have time to look at me like that, then get packing, you dummy! “Uh, Oikawa… I actually can’t sleep over at your place tonight,” he said with a soft voice.

What is this guy saying? I grabbed his bag from his locker and stuffed his things in. “Stupid! Don’t worry about that now; let’s hurry up so we can get going! We’re going to see your grandpa at the hospital.”

I was already pushing Iwa-chan out the door when he suddenly stopped and I almost toppled face flat on the ground. “We can’t see grandpa, what are you talking about? My parents are leaving for Sendai right now and taking the train to Atami.”

“ATAMI???” I almost screamed. “Eh, where is that?”

Iwa-chan grabbed his bag from me and fixed his clothes. “In Shizuoka, Baka-kawa. Learn your geography.”

Iwa-chan never really talked about his family apart from his parents and his cute little sister that he always boasts to the whole team. “Atami, huh? I didn’t know you have family there.”

“Yeah, well.”

I’ve known for a while that Iwa-chan doesn’t like to talk about himself, but at least mention stuff like this once in a while! I love knowing stuff about you!

“So…” he began, tentatively. “I can’t sleep over at your house tonight… and you’ll have to watch my house and my little sister tonight.”

Iwa-chan formed his hand into a fist and thumped it onto my chest. “I will kill you if you do anything to Harumi.”

“Eh?” I said, completely forgetting that I am in Iwa-chan’s body.

The next thing I know was I was already in front of Iwa-chan’s house— inside the porch. Iwa-chan told me again for like the 10th time that he will kill me if anything bad happens to his beloved sister, and that he will come to pick me up tomorrow (probably an excuse to see his sister). Harumi-chan caught Iwa-chan just before he stepped out the door, and Iwa-chan, who was obviously irritated at seeing his little sister being all smitten upon seeing my face, acted so accurately as the frivolous side of me.

Needless to say, he really nailed that one.

Stupid Iwa-chan didn’t need to warn me about Harumi-chan. It’s not like I’ll attack a poor 10-year-old girl. Yes, she’s cute, I admit that, but I’m not even straight to begin with. I’ve been gay since middle school. It wasn’t easy for me to accept it at first, especially the biggest factor that made me realize about my sexual orientation is the fact that I’m in love with my bestfriend.

Loving Iwa-chan is both heaven and hell at the same time. It delivers pure bliss to me when I think about him and every second I spend with him is precious.

‘That’s disgusting.’

My heart aches every time the Iwa-chan in my head says that. I know Iwa-chan as a friend, and that he cares about me because I’m his childhood friend. I know that. I know that I must hide my feelings for him deep down in a dark abyss in order to be beside him. And I’m fine with that. I’d rather do that than betray Iwa-chan’s trust in me.

Suddenly, I felt my shirt being tugged. “Onii-chan, what’s wrong? Are we having dinner?” Harumi-chan said.

Oh, right. I’ve got to make it through as Iwa-chan today. “You’re right, we should have dinner,” I said as I proceeded to the kitchen to see what we should have for dinner.

When I didn’t find anything to eat, I closed my eyes and murmured a little prayer to myself for I never cooked anything in my life. “Would you help onii-chan cook?” I told Harumi-chan.

An hour and 3 band-aids later, Harumi and I are now eating our dinner: slightly burnt sweet tamagoyaki (made by me), fried fish (Harumi-chan helped), miso soup (ready-made) and rice. Well, at least my rice turned out just fine. We were silently eating our meal when Harumi-chan said, “We should have made Tooru-san stay for dinner. I wonder what’s he doing now?”

And then it hit me. I was too consumed with the thought that I should act as Iwa-chan the best I can and so that Harumi-chan won’t call up her parents saying her brother’s acting weird that I totally forgot about it.

I left my manga out in the open, which I stuffed in my closet because I didn’t expect Iwa-chan would come over last night, I didn’t even had time to hide it!

No, Iwa-chan! He might find my yaoi manga!


	3. Iwaizumi as Oikawa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- this is told in Iwaizumi's POV

Sigh. This day has been my most tiring one so far. I meant that both physically and mentally. Acting as Oikawa, who is frivolous 95% of the time and yet he can be serious at times (though only for the remaining 5%, which is during games and training), was harder than I thought. I’m sure both he and I can’t wait to get back into our respective bodies.

Sure I’m annoyed that we’re stuck in this situation and forced to act as someone who has a completely opposite personality as my own, but unless we find out how this even happened, we can’t really do anything about it.

I was surprised about how concerned Oikawa looked when I told him my grandpa was sent to the hospital. We’ve been friends for more than 10 years, but that was the first time I’ve ever seen him like that. Maybe he wasn’t as easygoing as I take him to be.

But the devil himself doesn't seem to be handling this situation well. He's been silent since we left the clubroom and I don't think he even realizes that my house is just around the corner now. Well, it's been a while since I had a peaceful walk home, but it makes me uneasy whenever he's too quiet like this.

I walked Oikawa to my house and even inside the porch, but he's still too shaken up. "I'll kill you if you do anything unpleasant to Harumi, Shittykawa," I warned for like the 10th time, but I know that he won't do anything to my little sister. I've known him long enough to say that my trust in him is more than skin deep. But of course, I won't admit that to him, or his head will go big. I even go as far as to pretend to warn or scold him so that he won't think I'm treating him in a special way.

Harumi caught me on my way out the door and she obviously looked very pleased to see the Oikawa appearance. My sister is already 10 years old so everyone is saying that she may start developing crushes, but I don't know how to feel about her crushing on my best friend. While I admit that I get annoyed whenever she goes "kya kya" towards Oikawa, it annoys me even more that I don't know why I'm irritated about it. It must be because Oikawa's such a ladies' man and, it makes me sick.

"Okay, well see you tomorrow, Harumi-chan~" I said as Oikawa-like as I can, and stepped out the door. I don't think I can handle being Oikawa anymore.

Since Oikawa lives closer to the school than me, I had to pass by the school again, passing by the front gates this time. The school has a south entrance and the main entrance in the east. I normally take the south entrance, while Oikawa goes out to the east, and pretty much everyone knows this is where Oikawa's fans wait to ambush him.

And just my luck, my prediction occurs today of all days.

A girl appeared to be waiting for me (as Oikawa), walked towards me and she bowed at almost 90 degree angle while she handed out a love letter to me.

"U-um Oikawa-san, please read this!" She blurted out.

"O-okay..."

What do I do? I've never been confessed to before since girls think I'm scary and the only time they appreciate me is when I'm with Oikawa or playing for Aobajousai. And besides, this confession is supposed to be for Oikawa, and not for me.

Nevertheless, I went ahead and read the letter. The first thing I noticed was it was written using a pink pen, and the whole letter was covered in hearts and emoticons. 

"Dear Oikawa-san,  
My name is Ruruka and I'm in class 1-3. I also went to Kitagawa Daiichi junior high, but we're years apart so you probably don't know me （＾ω＾）. But that's okay~ We can always go for a tea and get to know each other more (≧∇≦)/  
I've been watching your games ever since middle school and you are always soo cool! (*^▽^*) My heart goes doki-doki whenever I see you! Kyaaa! My friends and I think you're reaaally hot, and like it would be nice to go on a date with you! Please go out with me!  
(づ￣ ³￣)づ"

\- Ruruka <3

I think I only understood about half of what was written in the letter. Was that even the same language? Or do girls have their own language?

I feel bad for her that it wasn’t even Oikawa responding to her, and I don’t even really know what Oikawa would say during confessions, but I still have to try my best. “Say, Ruruka-chan, isn’t it?~” I began.

“Y-Yes!” she answered, revealing her nervousness and anxiousness in one word. 

“Thank you for your letter, but I’m sorry, I’m not looking for a relationship right now,” I may have said this like Oikawa would, but these are my true feelings.

She casted her glance downwards, tears welled up in her eyes. “I knew it. Is it because of Iwaizumi-san?”

HUH? Because of me? What the hell?

“Um, what do you mean?” I asked her genuinely, for I too wanted to know where she came up with such a ridiculous reason!

“Some girls are saying it’s because of Iwaizumi-san that you’re not dating anybody, and some are saying y-you’re in l-love with him!” 

Oikawa? In love with me? What kind of joke is that? I need to make this clear to her.

“That’s not true, Ruruka-chan!” I clarified. “Iwa-chan and I are just childhood friends and we’ve been together ever since we’re children, so it’s natural for us to be together a lot! It’s just that I’m really busy with practice and training, and if I had a girlfriend, I might neglect her, and I don’t want that to happen.”

Her tears streamed down her rosy cheeks. “I love watching you play, Oikawa-san, so I’m fine with it! Even if you neglect me! So please go out with me!”

I bit my lip at hearing her answer. “Girls are to be treasured and cared for, not to be neglected and hurt. I would feel really bad spending most of my time in volleyball when I should be caring for you. I want you to know you’re not worth as just a second priority. I’m sure someone out there will give you his full attention that you really deserve. So I’m sorry, I will have to turn you down.”

The more her tears fell, the more I feel the remorse biting me. Is this what really is like to reject somebody’s confession? I reached into the pocket and was glad to find a handkerchief in Oikawa’s jersey. I held it out and gestured for her to take it.

Ruruka was surprised at my gesture. She smiled at me and took the handkerchief to wipe her tears. She inhaled deeply and exhaled as deeply, probably in order to calm herself down. “Thank you, Oikawa-san,” she said. “I’m glad it was you I fell in love with.”

She gave me back the handkerchief, and proceeded on her way. As I watched her walk away, she turned back, and said, “I’m glad to have seen this side of you, so I’m not telling anybody! I want to be the only one who knows this!” She waved goodbye to me, and then her silhouette faded as the sun finally set into the horizon.

As soon as I arrived at Oikawa’s home, I went straight up to his room and did a free fall on his bed. Even though I rejected the girl as Oikawa, I still felt crestfallen for what I had done.

Knowing that feeling dispirited won’t do me any good, I got up and readied the bath. Baths never fail to lift up my mood. I opened Oikawa’s closet for a change of clothes when something fell on my feet. I looked down to see a manga with its covers spread out like a butterfly. I picked it up and began flipping through its flimsy pages. 

I never knew Oikawa reads manga, especially manga like this! Boys kissing, boys taking off their clothes, boys exchanging I love you’s, boys being romantic and passionate, boys doing—

‘What is this?’

As I flipped the pages, I realized that I just found Oikawa’s porn stash. I think it’s normal for guys, but what’s strange about this is two boys are involved and doing… doing things what couples do. I froze and dropped the manga. I felt my blood rushed up to my head, heating up my cheeks and my soul freaking out inside. I was snapped out of my thoughts when the bathtub beeped, signalling that the bath is ready.

‘Okay, I just need a bath. It’s ready. Yes, a soak is definitely what I need.’

As soon as I got out of the bath, the phone on Oikawa’s study table rang. I looked at the caller ID, revealing that the caller is from my house phone number. Before the person at the other end of the line could even say hello, I hissed, “Oikawa, you have some explaining to do.”

“S-so y-you found it, huh?” Oikawa stuttered. I could picture him flinch before answering me. I heard him exhaled on the other end. “Can we please meet up?”

I raised a brow, even though he can’t see me. “Meet up? Sure, I’ll come over. Your parents aren’t home so I guess they won’t be coming home tonight.”

“Okay, Iwa-chan,” he replied. “I’ll be waiting.”

I hung up, and dashed for the front door, locking it behind me. I can’t shake off this feeling that something is about to bring change to our long-standing relationship as childhood friends.


	4. Through your brown eyes, I can see what you feel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big secret is finally revealed! How will these two teenagers deal with the impending change in their relationship?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- this is the final chapter! I hope you like it!  
> \- some angst but fluffy ending, believe me  
> \- back to 3rd person narration... sorry about the switching  
> \- EDIT: I changed some of my descriptions because even I totally forgot that they are still in each other's bodies until the very last part...

Beep, beep, beep. 

Noticing Iwaizumi had already hung up on the other end, Oikawa hangs up the phone. His heart thumped loudly in his chest as he put a hand over it while he racked his brain about what to do when Iwaizumi arrives. He actually regretted why he even asked his friend to come over when he’s absolutely not in the perfect condition to see the said friend. 

First of all, Iwaizumi had finally found out his deepest darkest secret. From there, it could only go crumbling down, he thought, because this also meant he would have to reveal his sexual orientation and confess his feelings towards his best friend. He’d been meaning to say this anyway, for he didn’t think Iwaizumi would keep buying the story as to why he hasn’t been dating anybody, but he himself just never expected that Iwaizumi would find out about it this early.

He wanted to beat himself up because of his carelessness of leaving his yaoi manga out in the open like that. But he set this aside, thinking that he deserved this for not telling his best friend earlier. All he can do now is bring light to the subject of his secret.

He was thankful he thought of preparing the bath just before he called. “Harumi, why don’t you go for a bath now, and get ready for bed? It’s almost 10 pm and you still have school tomorrow.” ‘Yes, just like how Iwa-chan would probably say it.’ Many thoughts still run through his mind, but he was lucky enough to still have a little bit of composure left in order not make the little girl worry about him. He deemed himself as someone who can act well and fool people with his pretending skills, except this human being called Iwaizumi, the only one who can make a mess out of the great Oikawa-san.

brrr brrr

His phone let him know that he just received a text message.

From: Iwa-chan:  
‘I’m here. Let me in.’

He sighed deeply. The time has come, he thought. He will have to keep his cool even if his lips are quivering. He is the kind of guy who always bottles up his real emotions, and Iwaizumi is a guy who’s observant enough to know what Oikawa really feels, even if the setter is faking it.

Oikawa opened the door to let Iwaizumi in, avoiding his eyes. He knows that with just looking into his eyes, Iwaizumi can read him like an open book.

That, in itself, made Iwaizumi a force to be reckoned with.

\---

‘Of course he’d avoid my eyes.’

Iwaizumi thought as he took off his shoes and placed them neatly deep inside the shoe cabinet. He wouldn’t want his little sister knowing he (or rather, the Oikawa appearance) is over at their place. He waited for his friend to lock the door behind them before proceeding to his own room, which felt kind of weird to him, because right now, he is the visitor in this case.  
He sat comfortably on the bed, and patted the spot beside him as a gesture for Oikawa to sit. After all, while on his way here, he had already guessed about more than half of what Oikawa is going to reveal tonight. And of course, he has also made up his mind about what he would reply to his friend if his guesses are all right.

This gesture earned him a strange look, but Oikawa nervously sat beside him anyway. He stayed silent as Oikawa tried to find more composure in himself. The silence between them lingered on for what seemed like 10 minutes when Iwaizumi himself finally thought that he should break the ice.

“Is Harumi already asleep?” he asked.

He didn’t need to be told that Oikawa is feeling incredibly nervous at that moment. Knowing his friend for more than 10 years, Oikawa has hardly been this uncharacteristically silent, and his delayed response gave more unspoken information about the inner turmoil inside the incomposed Oikawa Tooru beside him.

“…I had her take a bath.”

For the first time, Iwaizumi was thankful that his sister takes long baths, which used to annoy the hell out of him because she always uses the bath first. ‘I have an hour and a half before she comes out.’ 

And once again, the silence enveloped the room. He guessed that it must be really hard for Oikawa right now to find the courage in him to reveal everything. After all, he was the only one Oikawa would never dare to lie to, and even if he did, Oikawa will be eaten by his own conscience within 10 seconds and will spill everything anyway, whether he asked for it or not. Seeing the usually jolly setter like this is entirely new to the ace, and he intended to make this easier and lighter for his friend.

He cleared his throat. “Would you answer me honestly?”

“What, are we playing 21 questions?” Oikawa spat.

“And here I am, wanting to make this easy for you, Baka-kawa.”

Oikawa was silently surprised. “Okay, okay!” He breathed in deeply, bracing himself for questions his Iwa-chan might throw in his way. “I’m ready.”

Iwaizumi was also feeling a bit nervous. He thought it must be Oikawa infecting him. “Was that the reason why I’m never allowed to be alone in your room?” This is his actual first concern as Oikawa hardly ever left his room whenever Iwaizumi is over when the boundary of privacy between the two friends is only a really blurry line with a thickness of a thread.

The spiky black hair shook lightly as Oikawa nodded. One question was crossed out of Iwaizumi’s list of concerns.

“Are you… gay?” Not that he thought solely reading yaoi manga already makes his friend gay, but there are enough clues to make him think about this.

He witnessed Oikawa shutting his eyes very tight and held his breath in as he nodded for the second time, a bit slower than the first. He was quite relieved that his second concern was answered honestly. But he felt his hands grow cold at his third query. “Are you… in love with me?” he asked.

Oikawa had kept his eyes closed, but this time, he bit his pink lower lip quite hard, and verbally voiced, “Yes,” as his answer. 

Iwaizumi breathed out slowly, for he had unknowingly held his breath as Oikawa answered. He played with his now intertwined fingers as he asked, “Since when?”

He swore he saw Oikawa’s hands shook as the latter cupped his nose and mouth with them. “Since 2nd year of middle school,” he answered, nervousness still audible despite his muffled voice.

Iwaizumi hardened his entwined fingers into a ball. He looked back from almost 4 years ago, and regretted that he hasn’t been a good friend during the time Oikawa was probably figuring out who he really was. If only he had known earlier, he might have treated him gentler, he thought. If only he had known earlier, he might have tried his best to be more sensitive about what his best friend was going through during that important time. If only he had known earlier—

But what about now? Now that he knows, what kind of actions would he take? Which actions must he take? It’s easy to regret what he hadn’t done, but harder to face what he must do now that he knows.

\---

Oikawa felt the atmosphere grew heavy. Iwaizumi’s silence is a usual occurrence, as Oikawa himself is the chatterbox out of the two of them, but this kind of silence screams out to him that Iwaizumi is very much deep in thought.

He didn’t mean to make his friend feel responsible for anything, but he has known that Iwaizumi would definitely do the opposite of what he intended. He had this coming. “Iwa-chan, don’t mull too much over it!” he tried shaking off the continuously growing heavy atmosphere. 

“You’ll make me get wrinkles if you think too hard!” he added, faking a sweet smile and pointing at the crease folds on his forehead. He was shocked when Iwaizumi grabbed his hand and lowered it down to his chest level.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Iwaizumi asked, regret in his voice.

Oikawa knew he would ask this question, and that it was inevitable. The hold he has of his feelings and tears is loosening, and that too, was inevitable as soon as Iwaizumi asked this. “I simply didn’t want you to be too worried about it, you know!” he tried to play it off coolly.

“Stop playing everything off coolly, Shittykawa!” Iwaizumi exclaimed, and Oikawa was surprised at this outburst. “I know your insides are quivering at this moment, so stop putting this ‘I’m okay’ face on me! I’m not an idiot!”

“Okay, okay,” Oikawa has lost the grip on his feelings, and tears came running down his scrunched up features. “I was scared shitless when you hissed on the phone about finding my manga, and do you know how much strength it took me just to say ‘Can we please meet up?’ Do you know how much resolve it took me to finally let you know of everything? Do you know how scared I am right now? I hate feeling like an open book to you, but you had already figured out everything before you even arrived at the doorstep, but it still took all my courage just to nod and spout a few words to answer your guesses! I tried so hard to keep it from you, but you still easily figured me out just like that!”

“Oikawa…”

“Now, if you’re going to be disgusted by all this, please spare my heart at least. I don’t think I can take it. I love you too much that I will crumble down into a million microscopic pieces if you tell me to leave your side because I’m like this,” Oikawa got up and was prepared to make his exit when Iwaizumi pulled him back to bed and he joined in as Oikawa fell on his back and Iwaizumi on his side.

“Iwa-chan…!”

Iwaizumi sighed. “Remember that sleepover we had back in middle school when you had a wet dream and I caught you washing your underwear in the middle of the night? How about when we went back to bed after that and you couldn’t sleep because your blush was taking over you, and I was right beside you?”

Oikawa blushed deep red at the flashback, and earned a chuckle from Iwaizumi.

“I wouldn’t forget it because it was quite a sight to see and I swear I thought it was cute. But of course, I thought I was being ridiculous,” he paused, looking for a response from Oikawa, but the brunette has been rendered speechless, so he continued. “Do you really think I’m that insensitive to throw you away just because you’re gay? You’re an idiot, aren’t you?”

Iwaizumi propped himself up just a bit, hovering his ear on Oikawa’s chest. “Stop making my heart beat so loud,” he chuckled. 

“That’s because you’re on my chest!” a flustered Oikawa replied. 

Iwaizumi feasted on this view and dragged his body upwards to kiss the setter’s forehead. This earned a wide-eyed Oikawa Tooru. “If I thought your flushed face was cute 3 years ago, what do you think I’d think about your tomato red face right now?”

Oikawa shut his eyes due to his embarrassment completely taking over him, his body growing too hot in the process. He opened them as he felt a pair of soft lips on his to see Iwaizumi’s eyes closed, passion written on his face.

Iwaizumi blushed as he pulled away, and Oikawa was frozen. “W-w-w-wha—“ the latter stuttered.

“I-I d-don’t know e-either!” he replied, and was also reduced to a blushing mess. “I just had this urge to do—“

Oikawa suddenly melted from his frozen state and threw himself onto Iwaizumi, his arms snaking around the firm back. He oozed in happiness, for he doesn’t need to leave his beloved Iwa-chan’s side. “I really love you, Iwa-chan!”

Feeling as if he’d just keep on stuttering, Iwaizumi kept his mouth shut as he watched Oikawa happily professing his love in a singsong voice. He sighed in relief, the setter’s happiness also seeping through him as he smiled softly at the sight. He forgot that he’d been holding Oikawa’s hand this whole time and only realized it when he tried to use his right hand to satisfy the urge to run through his fingers through his own black hair. 

As much as he want to reciprocate his best friend’s feelings for him, Iwaizumi didn’t dare to speak as he did not truly know how he felt just yet, only knowing in himself that he wanted Oikawa by his side. That he does not want him to ever leave. ‘Is this what they call love?’ he thought. 

\---

Iwaizumi stirred and opened his eyes to look at the time. 2:30 am, it said. They hadn’t been asleep for that long, but long enough to be able to sleep deeply since when he tried to turn slightly to his side, Oikawa didn’t stir. Sleeping side by side with his arm around the brunette and their heads merely a few centimeters away from each other’s. He basked in the peacefulness of the night, only time he can freely admit that Oikawa looked angelic while asleep. He smiled at the soft rhythm of Oikawa’s breathing, and his heart thumped at the refreshing sight before him. 

Oikawa opened his eyes, darkness still surrounded him, and the time revealed to be currently 3:30 am by the red glow of Iwaizumi’s digital clock. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, Iwaizumi’s sleeping face became clearer in his sight. He giggled soundlessly, the urge to touch his beloved’s face getting stronger by the second. He satisfied himself by softly poking the black-haired male’s nose, and it creased at his touch. Oikawa smiled blissfully as he wrapped his arm around Iwaizumi’s waist and happily snuggled his face into his chest.


End file.
